May 17, 1920

Dr. Frankel,
Third Vice Presidents

 

‘In re? Survey of Public Health Work in American Cities

You and I have long realized the utter lack of trustworthy
information on the kind and amount of public health work that is being
carried on in American cities. With the hope of obtaining this information,
not only for our own purposes in the Company, but as a contribution to the
public health movement, we planned to send out a questionnaire to health
officers of cities which, when collected and tabulated, would give the
necessary facts. We would thus have a cross-section of health service as
now practiced in the lerger cities of the United States and Canada = about
250 of them with 25,000 population or over. We would also learn the more
urgent needs of the health officers, their plans for future expense 08 and,

also, what the Company could do to cooperate with thems

With your general guidance, such a questionnaire was drawn up
and submitted to five leading sanitarians, including Prof. CaHy As Winslow

of Yale, Dr. Donald B. Armstrong of Framingham, Dr. C. V. Chapin of

Providence, Dr. Wade H. Frost of Johns Hopkins and the Public Health Service, -
and Dr. W. S. Rankin, President, American Pabits Health Association. There

is unanimous, agreement on the.part.of these. ve..mer is investigation
is most timely. Everyone is enthusiastic over the “possibilities of the
inquiry. But, ‘there is considerable doubt expressed as to our Ability to
gather this information by the questionnaire method. Winslow is especially —
skeptical. In order to make the answers worthwhile, the questions have to.

be specific and, because of the wide scope of the inquiry, the questionnaire
must be lengthy and involve a great deal of labor on the part of the health
officers. The result would be that only a small percentage of the forms would
be sent ine

 

 

There is virtual agreement among our saeecepuedonte that the best
procedure would be to have the actual inquiry work done in each state by a
trained person working under the auspices and with the authority of the State —
Board of Health. Local health officers would cooperate with a representative
of the State Department where they might refuse us information. It is, theres

|) fore, suggested that the Company ask the Section on _on Public Health Administra-=

/ tion of the American Public Health Association to 5 appoint. a special committee

 

to take charge of the work for us, the funds required for the actual
canvassing to be furnished by the Company. I agree with 1 Winslow that $5,000

 

 

 

i would sée the work through in a satisfactory manner.
i 5

z -soacuuead that the Executive be asked to appropriate $5, 000
for this purpose,

LV}.

: SASRSSOSASO DAG ASHE SED
“2 2 3 : Statistician

—— 4
a